Get Your Duckface On With Quack-tastic Lip Balm

You've all seen it: that puckered pout used (and abused) by countless girls - and even a few guys - to make themselves look cute in their Facebook, MySpace and other social media photos. Now it seems as if the dreaded Duckface is coming to Japan: there's even a lip balm available to help get your lips ready for your, er, daffy mugshot.

The lip balm in question comes in a pretty pink package and the balm itself is packed in a pale pink plastic dispenser. The graphics on the backing cardboard show a duck - can't be much plainer than that, huh? - and the word "cute" in English. Duck = cute... has it really come to this? Where have Western exporters of pop culture gone wrong?

That the daffy Duckface look is nearly universally despised is no secret; anti-duckface websites like, er, antiduckface.com have been set up to shout out how silly the look is and how foolish-looking it makes those making it.

All to no avail, it seems. Bad enough that almost every photo of a Japanese girl shows her flashing the peace sign (and what's up with that, anyway??), can we now expect to see the quack-tastic combo of peace signs and Duckfaces?

Japan, I worry about you - after decades of building an enviable reputation as the home of All Things Cute, you're in great danger of blowing it to pieces. All because you want to look like ducks. (via Walker Plus)